After a hotel breakfast of aloo parantha, yoghurt and banana and of course, chai, Bilu picked us up. He had a plan already. We had a full day ahead of us, first stop was the local snake charmers!
Then we were off to Amber Fort.
Under a heavy shroud of fog we ascended. Walking alongside colorfully painted elephants I stopped to give one a scratch on the trunk. He swung his left foot lazily, almost coyly as I spoke to him.
Our guide spoke enthusiastically about the fort, its history and place in the area. His name was Rajish and this was his weekend job, while he was a student of tax. The fort was originally the home of the king and his 2 queens… and each queen had her own rooms. One for winter, one for summer and another for the monsoon season. No detail was left undone and the architects had built in primitive, but effective air conditioning systems, places for the queens to watch from - without being seen, and ramps for their wheelchairs. I guess when you are delicate and wear traditional garb weighing in at 14 kg, walking is not always an option!
Then lake palace and cenotaphs.
We ended at the City Palace in the downtown (walled) part of Jaipur. At this point we were both sight-seed out. Our audio guided walking tour became a speed-walking abridged tour as we made tracks to find food outside the palace.
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